CONTENTS

The government's actions and policies are leading the country into a
deep crisis, main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou said on
Wednesday, following a meeting with the boards of the Thessaloniki
Labour Centre and the prefecture's small industry and professional
chamber.

"There is just one conclusion: despair. A cry of anguish from all
sides, deep crisis in Thessaloniki and northern Greece, crisis in all
of Greece," Papandreou stated after the meeting.

Papandreou on Wednesday kicked off a round of meetings with the city's
producer groups, in a visit that will peak with his address at the 73rd
Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on Saturday and come to a close
on Sunday with a press conference.

In his statements, the main opposition leader highlighted the rise in
prices and high unemployment that came hand in hand with corruption and
lack of transparency.

"All this is topped by an unfair, inequitable taxation and the lack of
any support from the state," he added, through which very few benefit
but many suffer.

PASOK's president pledged that his party will place the right to a
"humane society" paramount, one that would treat citizens with dignity
and respect, contribute to development, create jobs and respect
people's right to health, education and a proper social insurance
system.

Papandreou's next stop will be the Museum of Byzantine Culture at
Thessaloniki's landmark White Tower monument, where he will tour the
exhibition on the history of the city, and a visit to the Technopolis
centre at Pylaia.

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) leader Aleka Papariga spoke on the
sidelines of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on Wednesday,
following her tour of the largest annual trade exhibition in the
country.

"We need to get away from (ruling) New Democracy and (main
opposition) PASOK, not just as political party formations, but to
bring the bourgeoisie class and the monopolies to defeat for the
benefit of the popular classes," she said.

Even more biting towards KKE's leftist rivals, the Radical Left
Coalition (SYRIZA), Papariga charged that the party acts like
"cosmopolitans in the European Union, but in Greece they wear jeans
and become revolutionaries."

She also again ruled out the possibility of "political alliances",
adding merely that SYRIZA is advocating such alliances for election
expediencies.